Diane Reeder. (Photo: Phyllis McCabe)
The Queens Galley is winding down operations at their popular soup kitchen and food bank on Washington Avenue. According to Executive Director Diane Reeder, the seven-year-old program, housed in the dining area and kitchen of the Washington Manor boarding house, was forced to move under the threat of eviction from a new landlord.
Reeder said the program had already stopped serving breakfast. Lunch and dinner service will cease after Dec. 13, Reeder said. From Dec. 16-21, the program will operate a free holiday food pantry in the dining area.
Other programs affiliated with the Queens Galley, including a snow-day lunch program at two local community centers, a cooking and nutrition education program and a hospitality industry job training program, will continue, Reeder said. Reeder added that the soup kitchen hoped to open in a new location next year. Meanwhile, she said, the group planned to operate “pop up” soup kitchens on a periodic basis and locations around the city.
The Queens Galley was the only soup kitchen in the city serving three meals a day every day of the year. The city’s remaining soup kitchen, Caring Hands, serves lunch on weekdays at the United Methodist Church on Clinton Avenue.
With all the other food sources in the city, eg caring hands and the mobile food pantry run by Community Action, etc. It should be enough.
It’s easy for you to say that, you probably have a nice cushy job with benefits and don’t have to worry about Gov’t programs and assistance.
NOT ALL OF US are looking for a FREE RIDE, some of us have are tired of sitting in front of an interviewer and being taken for a ride and at the end getting NO JOB..
Places like the Queens Galley make life more bearable and bring smiles to some of our faces when finding a job is almost IMPOSSIBLE in this region of NYS. I am skilled individual who lives in Ulster County with NO JOB for the past several years and this kind of program has saved me from hunger.
You don’t give your name but I did. I am a senior living only on Social Security and live in a senior residence. I worked hard all my life and think I deserve a few things. If I had to only eat 1 meal a day, I could do that but it would be hard.
We get food deliveries from the food pantries such as caring hands and Ulster Community Action and they have lunches and dinners also if you can go to there locations.
You are TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT. A Good thing now seems to be moving away from us (Queens Galley Kitchen)… A very unique place which cannot be found anywhere from NYC on up to Albany.. It will be missed.
As for working hard your whole life, a lot of us would LOVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO do the same, but it’s just not there so CONSIDER YOURSELF FORTUNATE..
We sit in front of snot nose interviewers who claim they will get back to us but never do as our unemployment weeks dwindle down to NOTHING. Places like this are not a want but are increasingly becoming a NEED
Oh, and my name is ERIC
That just sucks. Hope the new landlord starves. Obviously, he has no soul.
That’s horrible. The Queens galley served hundreds of meals a day. That is leaving a large gap in our community. Diane and the entire team at QG have worked so hard for our community.
The infrastructure at the Washington Ave location has been horrible for a long time. The Queen’s Galley can’t function in a space that is falling apart and the equipment marginal…. The community has to get behind making it possible for the Galley to return in a new space and even better than before. Lamenting the current landlord’s shortcomings doesn’t move things forward….
Janice It’s not enough. Many of the guests at the QG are either homeless or living in motels. What are they supposed to do with pantry foods that they don’t have the ability to cook?
You are right about all that and I hope they can reopen soon but in the meantime there are other places to go and some will deliver. they may not have 3 meals/day but sometimes 1 meal is enough for some
Mr Bennett,I hope for you that you never need a meal on a day one of the other soup kitchens or food pantry is not open. The big difference that the QG brought to the community is that there was no Federal support and no proof of poverty was needed. If you were down on your luck either for a short period of time or longer. You showed up and with much love, respect and dignity you were served a meal.
As a volunteer of the Galley I will never forget the day I was checking out at a local store, the cashier looked at me and was shocked and could tell was a little shook. I looked at the cashier said yes, I do know you….how are you? We had a breif conversation and we went on our day. The next time I saw the cashier was at the QG, the cashier could not of thank me more for not saying anything that day. For so many it took a lot of pride to walk into the QG and I have to say I am proud of The Galley and all they have done for the community.
I wish them luck with the future endeavors, they will shine, and return. You may say why becuase of the support of the community. The local community should be proud but know your work is not done. Now is the time to step up like you have never done before and help support The Queen’s Galley for the need is great now then ever!